Hens,
Roosters and Foxes

Recently, I used the expression, "He as happy
as a rooster in the hen house." when talking to a German friend. She said she
didn't quite understand what I meant.

After an awkward conversation of just
why a rooster might be happy to be in the hen house, (she didn't know much about
chickens - except that she thinks I'm wicked for eating them), I learned but that
the same expression in German except that it's a fox, not a rooster, and the connotation
is somewhat more sinister.

Anyway, I'm curious about a few things: Does the
fox version of the phrase exist in English or does the fox factor point to subtle
differences in national character? Is the rooster version more British(because
I almost certainly picked it up there? Are there other phrases like this that
change like this across cultures?